Pitt ousted from NCAA Tournament with 73-55 loss to Wichita State

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The Pitt Panthers are one and done in the NCAA Tournament and this one wasn’t even close. Pitt shot 35% from the field and 5.9% (1-17) from three point range, losing to Wichita State, 73-55 on Thursday afternoon at the EnergySolutions Arena.

The NCAA Tournament is all about guard play and Pitt’s guard play was atrocious. Senior Tray Woodall was 1 of 12 from the field with 2 points and 5 turnovers in the loss. While Pitt got nothing from Woodall and others, Shockers guard Malcolm Armstead had a game high 22 points and dished out 5 assists, leading Wichita State to the round of 32.

The lone bright spot for the Panthers was big man Steven Adams who led the Panthers with 13 points and 11 rebounds, but a lot Adams points came in mop up time.

Few Panthers came to play and this game was hard to watch. The way Pitt builds their teams (defense first) under Jamie Dixon is only going to continue to be questioned following another early tournament exit.

Speaking of Dixon, many wonder if this is finally the year he makes the jump out West and goes to USC. It’s no secret that Dixon has not been a fan about moving to the ACC.

One interesting rumor out there is a possible Ben Howland return to Pitt. In the final seconds of the game when discussing Jamie Dixon’s future, CBS college basketball insider Doug Gottlieb mentioned that Howland is on the hot seat at UCLA and said there is talk of Howland returning to Pitt were he to be let go by UCLA.